


Edged Lines

by orphan_account



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Alternative Universe - Non-Despair, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, everyone is alive obvs, ill add more relationships later, mostly written in ouma's point of view, none of them have any ultimate/shsl talents, personalities are altered, pre-game, pregame, pregame au, tho there will be things that reference their talent ingame
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-02-16 12:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13054185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Kokichi Ouma was a rather shy, timid, and insecure boy who's been bullied throughout his entire life. He's been the source of manipulation and rejection among his peers in his younger days, and when he finally reaches high school he's determined to throw away the past and get his act together. He then befriends a strange-looking boy and fourteen other students, and Atua knows what kind of mysteries and mishaps could happen in their daily student lives.





	1. Unwelcome Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey what up hoes its ur girl's first ever fanfic i ever wrote and posted on a fanwork sharing website lmao much excitement and enthusiasm
> 
> kk but on a serious note i'm like super drv3 obsessed which has driven me to write a pregame au fanfic centered around mostly saiouma bc the pregame cast is hot and underrated and we dont know much about them and also saiouma is a major otp for me 
> 
> anyways the chapters will be mostly focused on the students' daily lives as high schoolers in a normal school setting and their personalities are altered but they do have a small bit of their fabricated ones in-game i guess to make it more believable and interesting idk
> 
> apologies for any errors or weird ways of writing things, this is my first fanfic so of course its gonna have some mistakes
> 
> Edit (10/5/18): Due to my lack of interest in updating this piece of work, I am officially giving this up to the orphaning process. Thank you guys for the huge amounts of support on this!

The rain was pouring down harder than usual on a chilly April morning. Around this time of year students are heading back to school after a month-long break and continue their rinse-and-repeat cycle of their school lives for the next ten months and beyond. If you excluded the inclement weather at the moment, today would be a perfect day to demonstrate as such.

For Kokichi Ouma, the first day of high school didn't really mean so much to him. He'd have to see some of the same people from elementary and junior high school again, the same people who taunted him with all the bullying he endured for the past couple of years, the same people whose smiles plastered on their face from said bullying looked as they continuously torment the poor boy until he had the courage to speak up and tell them to stop. They'd laugh and point at him, saying how could anyone listen to such a cowardly, lonely fool with no friends. 

They were right, no one would want to listen or be near a desolated outcast like him. His scrawny, short stature, his pale skin, his shyness and timidness, his tendency to easily cry and apologize when being yelled at, his inability to fight back. His vulnerability in general is what made him perfect bait for bullies to take advantage of, manipulate, and anguish upon his grief. And what could he do about it? Nothing. Not even tell a teacher or adult at school about the situation either. He didn't have the guts to speak up, not especially if he wanted to be seen as a good-for-nothing snitch.

Kokichi tried to shake off those negative thoughts from his head. He didn't want to be burdened with such things that happened in the past, at least not now. The bullying abruptly stopped just last year, in his third year of junior high school. Was it possible that they grew tired of doing it? Found out how much it traumatized him over the years? Forgot that he even existed? Whatever the reason, he was over the moon when it finally stopped. No more rude remarks behind his back or a kick to the stomach for a while he hopes.

The rain pours harder and the winds became stronger as the purple-haired boy came closer to the bus stop. Staying out here long enough could catch him a cold, no way would he have want to start the first week off being sick.

Kokichi looks behind himself for a quick second and spots a taller boy around his age holding an umbrella, walking towards the stop. He sports a school uniform similar to his own, a striped black cap that covered most of his face, and possessed raven-colored hair and golden eyes.

_He doesn't seem familar, _Kokichi thought. Was he new to the neighborhood? Kokichi would've memorized almost all his neighbors' faces for have he lived here since childhood. Perhaps that didn't ring a bell.__

____

The smaller boy edged a little closer to the mysterious individual, and secretly took a small glance at him. He was on his phone, fingers tapping on the screen as he was texting someone for a few seconds, then swiftly putting his phone away in his pocket. He then stared down on the wet ground as if it was an empty void of space.

____

Not wanting to look like a snob, Kokichi decided to start up a conversation with him. It's not like he had anything else to do other than waiting, anyway. In fact, maybe it was time he could have proper some proper communication and social skills for once.

____

"Um, e-excuse me? A-are you taking the bus to Saishuu Academy?" the shorter one stutters a bit to get his attention.

____

The taller one turns around. "Oh, you're going there too as well?"

____

Kokichi nods his head in agreement.

____

"Ah, that's good. You see I just moved from Nagoya a few months ago with my uncle so I'm still trying to familiarize ourselves around here."

____

"Ohhhh I see. What brings you here to Kyoto?"

____

The taller boy lets out a deep sigh. 

____

"Basically around every few years or so my parents always get new job offers out of city which leads us having to move to new places around the country a lot. Then they decided starting from this year I should be living with my uncle here in Kyoto. He actually runs a detective agency here."

____

"S-Saihara Detective Agency?!" Kokichi exclaims in shock. "They're known for solving all those famous cases that were deemed impossible to solve!"

____

The taller boy lets out a chuckle and adjusts his cap.

____

"Haha, so you've heard of them as well." He stops briefly for a moment. "I'm aspiring to be a top-notch detective like them someday, continuing their legacy, but of course that's gonna take me several or so years to master. Though I don't actually have any experience in detective work whatsoever." He then blushes in embarrassment at his response.

____

"Interesting. W-well I hope that you'll be to fulfill your dream as a detective in the future! I-I don't really know what advice to give you but I guess you'll just need practice and perseverance!" Kokichi smiled encouragingly.

____

"T-thanks. I'll need it I guess." The other boy smiled back in return. "I'm Saihara Shuichi by the way."

____

"Ouma Kokichi."

____

The bus came to a stop as the boys finished making their introductions to each other. They head inside, sat down, and continued to converse more about themselves for a good several minutes until the bus made a full stop near the school where they were to be dropped off.

____

_Saihara-chan seems so cool and interesting, _Kokichi thought to himself. He actually found him to be quite attractive as well, despite that pesky cap of his covering up half his face underneath. Not that the smaller boy would have romantic feelings for him already or anything like that, geez they've just met for the first time!__

______ _ _

But whatever feelings Kokichi had for his newly-made friend felt genuine. They were both on the same boat. Shy, quiet, reserved, outcasts, loners, had no friends. It wasn't like those other "friends" he had when he was younger, only asking him to copy off his homework, borrowing a fraction of his lunch money, purposely leaving him out of social events, talking smack behind his back. It wasn't fake, nor was it a lie. It was something he never felt in a long time, and it made his heart flutter with glee trying to find it. 

______ _ _

Whatever that feeling was, it filled a space in his empty, cold, abandoned heart. He thought maybe it was about feeling wanted and supported, knowing that someone treats and cares about him like a friend, someone who he'd be comfortable with, someone who he'd be filled with trust.

______ _ _

Though, he doesn't know that yet. That Shuichi still had some potential in him. But Kokichi shook off those thoughts again and the two boys made their way through the gates of the academy alongside each other. 

______ _ _

A new stepping stone in life awaits!

______ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you made it to the end thx for reading this mess of a chapter i promise the next one would be better and less cluttered!
> 
> on behalf of the pregames im in love with the headcanon that pregame saiouma are basically switched personalities with each other bc i like it slightly more than ingame saiouma and also saihara as a top is kinda hot ngl
> 
> anyways thanks for reading the first chapter of my pregame au! leave kudos if you liked it and comments are also appreciated!


	2. Peculiar Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi and Shuichi make their way to Saishuu Academy and like every other student theyre determined to start their first day off right. The entrance ceremony greets them into a new stepping stone in life, memorable milestone photographs, and the start of new friendships created. Though some can get pretty odd...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all merry hanakwanmas or whatever tf you celebrate hope yall are having a great winter break and holiday so far
> 
> i wrote this up till like 5 am lmao you can tell how easily i gave up at the end
> 
> this chapter is a bit lengthy, i tried fitting in three settings all at once while trying not to make it too detailed and goes straight to the point or whatever, so srry about that. ill try to make them shorter in later chapters. 
> 
> i also added a lame ass reference to a video game series in the middle and ill give ya a hint on what it is its basically only famous bc of smash bros i think
> 
> there is a hint of oumeno tease in it ;^)
> 
> apologies again for any grammar errors or misspellings or anything like that writing and half-assing it until the crack of dawn is soooo fun *sarcasm*

The entrance ceremony was about to commence as soon as the gym was gathered with large groups of first-year students scurrying to grab a seat next to their friends before it starts.

Shuichi and Kokichi grab seats in the third row in front of the stage, where they can see teachers standing side-by-side looking confident in their stance, and a few upperclassmen hanging around backstage until they were told to get out and make anymore further preparations for the ceremony. From the ground level they could see the smiling faces of proud parents delighted to see their children reach the final step in their school lives, and before they know it they'd see their children graduate, go off to college, start a family, and pursure their future, or whatever outcome other than that goes for them when they actually do graduate. 

Shuichi looks over at the parents standing with their backs on the walls and scans each of their faces until he could spot someone familiar in the group. He then spotted a tall, slim man with raven-colored hair and was wearing a dark brown trench coat with a matching hat, similar to a detective's attire. He immediately recognized that was his uncle and without thinking, waved at him to see if he'd notice. His uncle makes a toothy smile waves back awkwardly in response.

"Who are you waving at?" Kokichi asked in confusion to the other boy.

"Oh, that was just my uncle," Shuichi eagerly replies. "Are your parents here too?"

"N-no, they're at work. Couldn't make it on time." That was a lie, of course. His mother works graveyard shifts from 10 PM to 8 AM and didn't have time to stay up for one more hour for her son's ceremony. His father was a binging alcoholic who would much rather get drunk, stare into the void of television screens, and sometimes drive somewhere in middle of the night and come back at some unearthly hour. It made Kokichi upset, knowing that they almost never come to his special events, thus rarely ever seeing their faces filled with pride and joy after seeing their child's accomplishments and what not to fuel up excitement.

The principal, hidden from the audience, came out of the curtains like a shadow in the dark and made her way to the podium. She tapped gently on the microphone a few times until it made that sound and the audience quickly reverted their attention to the young woman.

"Excuse me, may I have your undivided attention please?" The principal spoke through the microphone in a loud and clear manner. "It has come to my attention to welcome our 53rd batch of students to Saishuu Academy! You may call me Mrs. Nakamura, and as principal of this academy it is my job to prepare you for the upcoming three, most glorious years of your school life."

Mrs. Nakamura went on and about during her speech, mainly topics of getting to know your new classmates and teachers, learning harder material, maintaining a balanced lifestyle, preparing for college, blah blah blah. Kokichi was possibly half-listening throughout all the talking, as if his yawns occuring every few minutes didn't indicate boredom and fatigue flowing across his head, waiting for time to past until that boring speech is over.

Several minutes later it was finally finished and the students were allowed to be dismissed outside the front of the school to take their commemorative photos. Kokichi followed Shuichi along with his uncle to the gates of Saishuu Academy while at the same time, trying to rub the tiredness from his eyes.

"Say cheese!" Shuichi's uncle says as he snaps a photo of his nephew standing in front of the academy, possesing a cheery and motivated smile on his face.

_Looks like someone doesn't have first-day jitters, _Kokichi thought as he watched Shuichi continue to get his photos taken.__

____

"Hey, I haven't seen you take your picture yet, want me to do it?" Shuichi turned around to the shorter boy in anticipation. 

____

"N-no, it's okay. I don't-"

____

"Aww, please? How about we take one together? Y'know, to commemorate that we survived the first day and what not?" The taller boy was now smiling in a somewhat eerie way than before, but Kokichi just shook it off as whatever and agreed to his persistence.

____

"A-alright, if it's fine with you too I guess," Kokichi replied in his usual anxious tone.

____

Shuichi pulled out his phone and turned on the camera app, then switched to front-view camera. They both did the typical V sign pose and Kokichi emerged a small, meek smile from his lips. The camera then went _snap! ___

______ _ _

~•~

______ _ _

"Which homeroom class are you going to again?" Shuichi asks as he looks over his schedule that was given to each assigned student by their grade-level counselor.

______ _ _

Kokichi took a glance at his own schedule to check once more. "Class 3-A, we have the same one, right? It should be around here s-somewhere..."

______ _ _

The two boys wandered around the halls filled with students who were in search of their respective classrooms as well. They eventually find 3-A in the middle of the wing and entered inside. Five students remained at their desks leisurely scrolling on their phones. Mrs. Kubo, the teacher for their homeroom was not present at the moment.

______ _ _

"Um, is Mrs. Kubo going to be here today?" Shuichi calls out to the remaining students, hoping they'd answer.

______ _ _

"Yeah, in like a couple of minutes. She's still wrapping things up from the ceremony." A petite, red-haired girl sitting at the back of the classroom playing on a GBA volunteered to answer.

______ _ _

Shuichi shrugged and went directly to the far left desk that was in second to the last row. Kokichi followed suit and sat in the desk behind him.

______ _ _

The raven-haired boy then pulled out his phone and connected his headphones to listen to some music to kill time. Kokichi took it as he doesn't want to be bothered right now, and decided to pull out his phone until he spotted the same red-haired girl next to him playing some kind of fantasy RPG game which caught his eye.

______ _ _

He leaned back a bit in his seat to get a better view. On the screen was a one-on-one battle between an enemy affiliated red mage and an ally affiliated green mage under the name of "Nino". Nino casted a powerful magic fire spell toward the poor enemy mage and blasted them into smithereens.

______ _ _

"What's that game you're playing?" The purple-haired boy asked in curiosity. The girl nearly got startled as she was so immersed into playing the game she didn't notice someone watching her.

______ _ _

"I-it's a game called Fire Emblem," the girl hesitantly answered. "Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade to be exact. It's a tactical RPG series."

______ _ _

"Mm, looks interesting!" The name didn't ring a bell to Kokichi and he wasn't that knowledgeable about RPG games, but seemed to be fascinated by the game so far.

______ _ _

The game continued as the turn switched to "Enemy Phase" and the red units start charging on the blue allied ones. A mage mounted on a horse, presumably the boss came out of the shadows at the bottom of the map and locked onto Nino. The one-on-one battle prompted again but this time with a blue-haired young woman under the name of "Ursula".

______ _ _

_"Tell me child, are you afraid to die?" ___

________ _ _ _ _

Ursula casts a magic fire spell which landed a critical hit on the underpowered green mage, thus killing her instantly.

________ _ _ _ _

_"Am I...Am I going to die?" ___

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Damn it," the girl muttered under her breath and grunted. She soft reset the game and loaded back her original save file.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"W-why did you do that?" Kokichi sound dismayed as he watched her replay the map again. "S-she looked like a pretty good unit to me..."

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Heh, that's exactly why." The girl said in assuredness. "Best mage unit in the game, super solid stats across the board and basically best unit in general. N-not that I have a bias towards mages or anything..."

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Nishishi~ your roster of units seems a little too deceiving of that statement." The boy teases her as he points out the allied group consisting of mostly promoted sages, priests, and druids. Despite him being shy and recluse on the outside he secretly likes to show a more playful and mischievous side to him once in a while.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"S-shut up," she blushes in embarrassment at his silly tease. "What's your name anyway?"

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Ouma Kokichi."

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Yumeno Himiko. Nice to know there's another pint-sized kid in this school that shares the same interests as me." The two quietly giggled at her joking remark like frivolous elementary school children.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kokichi looked up as there were more students seated in the classroom than before. Out from the door came a blonde girl holding hands with her tall green-haired boyfriend, and a girl with long black twintails tied with blue beads bursts with energy as she ran inside toward Himiko.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Oh my god Himiko-chan I haven't seen you in sooooo long!" Twintails exclaimed as she hugged the petite girl like an excited child getting rewarded for making the honor roll. "How have you beeeen?"

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Nyeh, I'm doing fine I guess," Himiko responds with her usual blank expression and lazy voice whilst still playing her game.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"I know you've been playing video games all day during break, could tell by your face and everything but I can't believe we're in high school now! I think screwed myself over with those entrance exams and still passed surprisingly, but whateves! Think of all the fun stuff we'll be doing since we're ol-"

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

Twintails suddenly divided her attention to Kokichi, giving him a sharp stare into his droopy purple eyes.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"And who might you suppose to be, trying to take advantage of Himiko-chan like that?"

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kokichi was at upmost, very much clearly frightened by her. His palms were getting sweatier by the second.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"H-huh? I'm not doing anything like that! Wh-what do you me-"

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Hah! Don't try to place innocent with me! I know how teenage boys are! Tricking girls into your own bidding just so you can use them for your o-own p-pleasure...!"

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

The boy didn't know how to respond. In fact all that yelling towards him felt like he was about to be on the verge of tears.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"G-geez I'm sorry, okay?" Twintails notices his tense expression and quickly apologizes. "I obviously didn't mean it y'know."

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Yeah Tenko's right," Himiko added in. "She's just wary of boys for some reason, but I know Ouma-kun isn't the type of guy to do that."

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kokichi felt reassured after hearing that. "Th-thanks Yumeno-san, and um..."

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Chabashira." said Tenko.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"You're forgiven as well too, Chabashira-san." 

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

The first bell rang as soon as the lately arrived Mrs. Kubo made her entrance. The short woman walked up to her desk to make her awaited introduction.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Hello class!" Mrs. Kubo shouts to catch everyone's attention. "You may call me Mrs. Kubo and welcome to the first day of the rest of your lives! When the late bell rings in about four minutes so please be in your seats as I'll take attendance and we'll make our introductions later, capische?"

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

The class nodded at her command and reverted back to what they were doing.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kokichi turned around to Shuichi, who appears to be talking to an old friend of his from junior high. The boy he was talking with had an intimidating look to him. He possessed magenta colored hair that spiked upward and downward, tall stature and a muscular body. Spikeyhead talked about some old memories they had, like they were such good "partners" and how Shuichi made a great "sidekick" out of himself in the old days. Whatever the hell that means.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Fun, awkward, and obnoxiously loud encounters so far? It's a rough start I guess. ___

____

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone sounds super ooc in here omg i fuckin cant
> 
> im trying to make their personalities true to their pregame selves but still being true with a bit of their ingame selves to make it seem more "authentic" i suppose?? something along those lines
> 
> speaking of that lame ass reference if any of you guys are into fe or at least played heroes and/or played fe7 the map himiko is at is the ever so cursed chapter 26: battle before dawn bc who doesnt love fog of war and survival maps amirite
> 
> also magic is everything | ｀Д´| 
> 
> anyways if you guys liked leave a kudos and comments and appreciated have a holly jolly holiday and gn im so dang tired


	3. Not So Modest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Shuichi and Kokichi interaction with each other, and a glimpse of Kokichi's not so good homelife. Also making way for someone's ambitious ideas coming ahead..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cheers to 2018 ya fuckers i aint dead just yet
> 
> with winter break coming to an end my anxiety and depression is about to make it's comeback alongside with my ever so fucked up sleep schedule hoorah
> 
> that being said 2018 isnt coming to a good start for me yikes
> 
> also speaking of comebacks big hype for me bc blackpink is about to make their cb this month!!
> 
> (tysm guys for 60+ kudos btw!!)
> 
> (edit: why cant ao3 format the text properly i fuckin hate this wth)

Today at school wasn't as bad as Kokichi thought it would be. Aside from the boring lectures from his new teachers, lunch, and the dreaded warm-up game of dodgeball in gym, it wasn't as awful as it could be. Notable highlight was meeting up with some of his new classmates in homeroom. He eventually found out that Spikeyhead, who went by the name of Kaito Momota was revealed to be Shuichi's close friend back in junior high but kind of faded away from each other after Shuichi moved.

Another classmate Kokichi conversed with was a girl in jet-black twintails and red eyes named Maki Harukawa, whom he found quite menacing at first glance but was really a sweet girl at heart. Furthermore, he met a vulgar-mouthed blonde girl named Miu Iruma and her companion Kiibo, whom they'd talk frequently with each other but sometimes Blondie would slip in lewd remarks here and there which made Kiibo, also known as her uh, so called _boytoy _uncomfortable.__

__Shuichi and Kokichi got off the bus at their stop and walked together to their respective homes. It was then the taller boy caught his attention to a small, gray kitten roaming around on the sidewalk as if it had nowhere to go._ _

__"Aww, what an adorable kitten!" Shuichi says as kneels down and pets the feline's soft fur, looking absolutely mesmerized. "Is there always such a cute kitten leisurely strolling here?"_ _

__"I g-guess so? I'd see one s-sometimes when walking home from school," The shorter boy hesitantly answered as he watched Shuichi play with the kitten for a while until it abruptly ran away from his grasp. He shrugged it off and continued walking toward the path._ _

__"Can't believe I'd lay my eyes on Momota-kun after so long," Shuichi suddenly calls out in a relieved tone. "Heh, seems like he hasn't changed all that much."_ _

__"Hmm? What do you mean?" Kokichi asks, looking concerned._ _

__"He's that one popular kid everyone admired in junior high. Pretty outgoing, star of the sports teams, looked up to by some of the upperclassmen and was adored by girls. Complete opposite of me. I was his 'sidekick' back then."_ _

__"Sidekick?"_ _

__"Yeah, that's what he calls me. We'd hang out and I'd tag along with him all the time. Well, not in front of his buddies or whatever, I decided I didn't want to fit in with them. I'd look out of place by how wimpy and nerdy I am." Shuichi then chuckled to himself for a bit._ _

__Kokichi didn't respond back and the two walked in silence for a few minutes, not having anything else to say to each other. It was then that he was getting closer to his apartment complex and was about to part ways._ _

__"I g-guess I'll see you tomorrow?" He nervously asks as he breaks the quiet mood and heads to the opposite direction._ _

__Shuichi nods and lets out a small smile in affirmation and continued to walk forward ahead._ _

__The shorter boy nodded back and made his way upstairs to his apartment. He unlocked the door and was met by a tangy, fruity smell of beer that lingered across the room._ _

__He spotted his father lying down on the couch with a passed out expression on his face. Empty beer bottles were scattered on the floor of the living room and a recording of a show from the late night channel was still running on the TV._ _

___Whatever, _Kokichi thought as he rolls his eyes at the foul sight. It's been happening for a few years now, so he's used to the scene. His father wasn't a violent drunk, but it didn't help that they were both in bad terms with each other. Kokichi secretly wishes that his father would seek some professional treatment soon in order for him to change, though soon would be an understatement as he'd been hoping for quite a while.__ _ _

____The boy made his way through the hallway and into his bedroom. He plopped his school bag on top of his desk, took out his books and began doing his homework. No need to be slacking off especially when you're in high school now!_ _ _ _

____~•~_ _ _ _

____After what has been several hours later Kokichi was called outside to the dining room by his mother to eat dinner. He spotted her sitting cross-legged at the table and had served grilled salmon with rice in two bowls._ _ _ _

____"Your father's been going out lately, huh?" His mother says in a mouthful of food. "Hope he isn't doing anything suspicious lately other than just binge-drinking."_ _ _ _

____"Yeah, hope so," Kokichi lazily replied back. He honestly didn't really give two shits about where his father was going or what he's doing, at least not now since he goes out basically every week._ _ _ _

____"How was your first day of school?" I'm sorry I couldn't come to your entrance ceremony. Overtime from work kills me."_ _ _ _

____"It's alright, and school was fine I guess. Just the same old faces. Teachers were okay too."_ _ _ _

____"I see," Mrs. Ouma responded in a calm manner. "Well, you don't have go into too much detail. Just do your best in school and make friends, okay? I'm very much proud of you for making it this far."_ _ _ _

____She finished her meal, got up and made her way to the door. "I'm going to work now. Love you."_ _ _ _

____"Bye," said Kokichi in a monotonal voice. His mother was the only person in this godforsaken house that showed any love, care and attention to him anyway. Gods what would his life be if he hadn't had such a loving parent by his side..._ _ _ _

____He washed the leftover dishes, took a quick shower, and got ready for bed. Oh what a long school year was he looking forward to..._ _ _ _

____~•~_ _ _ _

____"Hey Ouma-kun," Shuichi called out from his desk that was in front of Kokichi. "Have any idea on what club you're planning to join?_ _ _ _

____"H-huh?" The smaller student lazily reacted as his lack of sleep from last night caused him to be half-awake. "Oh umm, student council I suppose? If I get appointed as representative of this class that is."_ _ _ _

____Himiko overheard them and looked up from her game to seemingly butt into their conversation._ _ _ _

____"If you ever get appointed for student council can you ask the president if the entire grade can go on a field trip to Disneyland at the end of the year?" She jokingly remarked._ _ _ _

____The two boys alongside with Himiko broke out into a snickering laugh at her silly request._ _ _ _

____"Heck, I wish." Kokichi added in. "One time in my junior high school they'd give out tickets to the class in each grade level that had the best marks in year-end exams." He then awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Of course my class didn't make it though..."_ _ _ _

____"Nyeeehhh, no fair. My school's too old-fashioned and boring to get to do anything like fun that." The redhead's lips emerged into a pout of disapproval._ _ _ _

____Their conversation was cut off short when the first bell rang, indicating the time for homeroom announcements and an extra five more minutes until the late bells rings for first period. Mrs. Kubo stacks away some paperwork she's been working on into her luggage and got up from the aged teacher's desk. She grabbed the pointer from the desk's drawer and used it to make loud, rapid taps on the blackboard. The class stopped what they're doing and reverted their attention to the disharmonic noise coming from the short teacher._ _ _ _

____"Alright class," she settled down. "Considering that it's only the second day we don't have much announcements to go over. Sign-up forms for clubs start next week, you can get one from the front desk in the main office. Oh, and each homeroom is assigning two representatives. I'm going to calculate your grades from your previous junior high school and whichever boy and girl has the highest gets assigned to be class rep and appointed to the student council. That happens next week as well."_ _ _ _

____Mrs. Kubo scurries around the front of the class, gathering up her belongings to transfer to the next class. The second bell rings right after she fully packed up and made her way to the door. "Bye everyone!"_ _ _ _

____"Bye," the class called back in a very flat unison. How full of enthusiasm and energy were these kids filled with in the morning.  
It wasn't long until their Japanese Language Arts teacher, Mrs. Sato entered inside and _wham! _Went the door as she slammed it shut to immediately begin her lesson.___ _ _ _

______"You know the drill," she said in that aged, groggy voice of hers. "Please take out your textbook and turn to page 30. Take twenty minutes to quietly read over the material up until page 45 and then we'll do a discussion with the class. _No talking to others while reading. _  
The class did as they were told and read the material quietly in peace.___ _ _ _ _ _

________Mrs. Sato was an elderly woman in her 60s and described by students as strict and serious, but cranky and even considered abnormally frightening by some if you get on her bad side. Rumor has it that if one gets her furious, she'd give you the most deadliest death stare that'll practically already obscure you six feet underground. An exaggeration that may be, anyone with a brain cell would know that they'd never believe such a thing. Of course even if one thought of slightly messing up a Kanji radical or neglect to use correct grammatical structures can result in a ghastly attitude given by that bloody woman._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Kokichi silently read along in his textbook. _Causative and passive verbs, conjugate the end to indicate action made by something, blah blah blah blah. _  
He then looked around the classroom. His classmates were dead silent and intensely focused on their textbooks you could hear a pin drop.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Kokichi didn't have the chance to meet everyone just yet, but even so he was determined! He told himself before he wanted to change for better, like a new year's resolution whom one actually vowed to follow. No more of that weak, crybaby persona he used to be in the past! With him and his sid- _Shuichi_ on his side they'll make the most memorable events of class 3-A's high school ye-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"Ouma-san?" Mrs. She-Devil looked over her laptop and glared right into the boy's dilated eyes. He nearly jumped out of his seat._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"Refrain from dozing off into la la land and do what you're told please." she instructed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"A-ah, s-sorry," The startled Kokichi quickly averted his eyes from the threatening glare. He leveled his gaze at the bulky textbook then sunk down in his desk with the feeling of embarrassment and defeat. Now wasn't the time for reciting some self-improvement monologue in your head or staring into empty space._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Kokichi fixed his eyes on the complex Kanji characters largely printed on the right side of the page. The amount of strokes required to write all of them were overwhelming, kind of like the same emotion he's been feeling within those scattered thoughts of his._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhh my sleep deprived self wrote most of this at like 5 am
> 
> decided to give a little insight into kokichi's not so good homelife in pregame, just to take a glimpse of what he goes through almost every day. based it all purely on my headcanon for this story 
> 
> if youre wondering where tf the rest of the v3 cast is dont worry theyll get screen time in the next chapter i suppose
> 
> im kinda surprised this story got this many kudos and hits in such few chapters. i just rlly love the v3 cast a lot especially in their pregame selves bc holy shit theyre underrated and i just wanna see all of them living normal lives and being happy and not induced to killing you hear? lmao anywho thank you to everyone whos been supporting this story even tho its a mess atm i very much greatly appreciate it <3


	4. Insecurity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiibo doesn't feel too confident in his ability to fit in with his peers because of his differences, and Miu attempts to lend him a hand on the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hnnnggg im not dead i swear midterms are fucking me in the ass rn so expect a 1-3 week hiatus between updates bc school is holding me hostage as a slave
> 
> this chapter is a bit different. its not ouma-centric this time obviously, but think of it more as a side story chapter which i'll probably add around every few main chapters to focus on the rest of the cast and i guess to change things up a little?
> 
> boy do i sure love writing while running on one hour of sleep and my life being a total mess atm
> 
> i hope this doesnt look too half-assed bc i wrote most of this while sleep-deprived af

"Woohoo!" Miu yelled as she destroyed the last enemy space ship to smithereens in Space Invaders. "Level 9 again, bitch!"

"Miu, it's almost 7 pm," said Kiibo, who had his back against the wall and looked up from his phone. "Shouldn't we be going now? Professor might get worried..."

"Geez Keebs, don't worry your little robo-head about it~" The blonde assured as she reverted her eyes from the blinking screen to face Kiibo. "Just one more round, pleeeease?"

The white-haired boy let out a distressed sigh and went along with it before he had to hear anymore of her whining. "Fine, one more then we go."

Miu turned back to the screen and pressed a button. The colorful enemy spaceships assembled neatly in nine rows have now swarmed around the screen, shooting bullets in a multitude of directions like a bullet-hell frenzy. One bullet after the other landed on the hero ship, resulting in a rapidly decreasing health bar on the top left of the screen. Miu frantically mashed the buttons and fidgeted with the joystick in an attempt to spam-shoot the enemies and dodge their shots. In just a matter of seconds the health bar depleted to zero and the screen transitioned to the flashy text displaying _GAME OVER_ in large, bold letters.

"What the- I was so damn close!" Miu yelled as she emerged an irritated look on her face. She then slams her fist down near where the controls were in pure anger and frustration. "Ugh, fuck this shit!"

A nearby employee collecting quarters from insids an arcade machine overheard the girl's vulgarity and immediately told her to hush.

"Language please!"

"Sorry," Miu apologized in an exasperated manner and rolled her eyes. She picked up her bag and headed towards the exit

"Out we go, Kiibo!" she shouts as she gestures the boy for their departure. Kiibo turned red in embarrassment from her boisterous outburst and followed suit.

As soon as the two teens walked out the door, the employee who was still collecting quarters let out an exhausted sigh.

"Teens get to have so much fun nowadays," she mumbled to herself, alongside with clumsily dropping a few coins from becoming slightly lost in thought. "When will they ever learn..."

~•~

The warm, spring breeze filled the late afternoon air in the suburbs of Kyoto. Dusk was about to take it's place as a sunset emerged in the orange, semi-day sky along with flocks of birds crying out as they soar through the discolored clouds. Small children on their bikes and scooters swarmed across the block, racing each other and laughing uncontrollably over inside jokes as if their vivid little brains thought life was going to treat them this easy with fun and games. At least not from now on that is. A typical scenery seen by many after a long, tiring day, but one may think the peaceful atmosphere put them at some sort of calmness and ease. 

"Hey Keebs, how you feeling there?" Miu asked the shorter boy as she broke the silent mood between the two of them. "Are you y'know, feeling alright?"

"Huh?" Kiibo possessed a confused expression in light. "Um, I can assure you that I am feeling quite normal to a maximum extent."

"Really? Then how come you looked so nervous during the first few days of school hmm?" Miu cackled as she jokingly smacked the back of Kiibo which caused him to redden.

"W-well, I mean it was my idea that I suggest I should experience what the life of a high schooler is like, considering my body build I technically _am_ one..."

"Pshhh, you'll probably regret it later sometime. Maybe the material you learn might be too easy for you since you're basically a walking Wikipedia, and oh! You've got to have guts if you'd ever think of looking up to a gorgeous girl-genius like me!" Miu held her head up high like the boastful braggart she is. After her mini self-acclamation she then put her head down and cleared her throat.

"What I'm saying is that you shouldn't treat yourself so differently from the rest. Sure you nail the components of a human perfectly, with your knobs and gears and mechanical whatevers inside you but that isn't exactly my point."

Kiibo listened attentively as he awaited her next several words.

"Shit, how do I explain this..." The clueless blonde tried to think up a way on how to word her jumbled advice.

"On the outside of course you're made out of hunks of metal but on the inside, right under that metal lays your inner feelings  
that define you as who you are. Your interests, emotions, thoughts, bonds with people, you're implemented with that right?"

The white-haired boy nodded in affirmation. Obviously his AI was programmed to possess human behavior after all...

The blonde sighed once more. "In a nutshell, if you want to fit in you'll have to try to blend with the rest of the crowd. Have confidence in yourself and in front of your peers y'know? It's best that you start early, we'll be growing up with those twerps for the next three years anyway."

Kiibo was silent for a moment, possibly trying to retain the information that was messily explained. He then piped up and faced Miu with a look of determination on his face.

"I guess I will commit that to my memory bank for future reference," he finally responded.

"Heh. It was pretty half-assed, but you're smart so you'd probably get it pronto." This time Miu rubs Kiibo's pillow-soft, white hair as the strands run through her fingers in delight. Poor boy turns red each time whenever she gets touchy, but in reality he admired the soft touch of her skin. Feeling the smooth texture over his jagged, humanoid body put him at warmth and ease.

As much as Kiibo wanted to experience life as a normal teenager, he wanted to be within Miu's presence the most. The bonds between them were what you call unbreakable, but maybe some rust formed here and there as the years go by. As they got older Miu started becoming quite the independent, social butterfly. Being the center of attention and possessing an outstandingly high ego on herself was her specialty!

An idea hit Kiibo from out of the blue. What if he were to form bonds with his fellow classmates as well? Being sheltered away from most people his age prevented him from doing so in the past, but now it seems like he's at a vantage point! Just imagining himself forming his own group of friends and getting together to discuss their passionate interest on robotic technology made his volts tingle with glee, at least that could be just a possibility only for him.

Kiibo looked up at the hazy orange sky, then parted his gaze down at the scattering petals flying out of the large cherry blossom trees. He had never gotten this accustomed to the beautiful, natural sceneries this country had to offer, and hoped this difference in environment would bring change to his social life and self insecurities.


End file.
